This invention relates to wiper blades, and more particularly to an improved wiper blade specifically adapted for use on vehicle windshields and the like, which is capable of both wiping water from the windshield and also of scrubbing off foreign matter deposited on the windshield.
Known blade devices for performing this additional scrubbing function, assuming they were even functional, have suffered from a number of disadvantages. For example, they tend to be very bulky, often utilizing two separate parallel blades, thus impairing forward vision, they usually require excessive power to operate, they often do not park in the normal manner under standard vehicle cowl panels, they sometimes require special blade holders, they are expensive to manufacture and they can cause excessive windshield wear. In addition some such devices require manual actuation to go into scrubbing mode, and many of them either do not scrub well or scrub for the entire length thereof, rather than merely the area which requires scrubbing.
It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide an improved wiper blade which is extremely simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture and yet which overcomes all of the aforementioned problems associated with prior designs.
The wiper blade of the present invention has two general configurations that both provide the usual squeegee or wiping action when moving in either direction, in the exact same manner as a conventional wiper blade; but when moving in one direction one configuration provides, in addition to the normal wiping action, a scrubbing action to remove foreign matter (such as sap, bugs, etc.) deposited on the windshield. In the other configuration, the wiper blade of the present invention provides, in addition to the normal wiping action, a scrubbing action when moving in either direction. This scrubbing action takes place automatically when required and only in that area along the blade where scrubbing is required. The scrubbing portions of the blade are sufficiently open that they will not collect water and thereby hinder subsequent wiping operations. The wiper blade of the present invention is essentially a single elongated blade and therefore fits in a standard wiper blade frame, and will park under any cowling that a conventional blade will. It does not require excessive power to operate and does not cause excessive wear of the windshield. Furthermore, it does not impair forward vision any more than a conventional wiper blade does.
Because the wiper blade of the present invention keeps a vehicle windshield cleaner than known wiper blades, it offers significant safety advantages.
Other advantages and features will become apparent from the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.